Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Model A (1928-31)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-16-2018, 01:34 PM   #1
truesdaleg
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Allen,TX
Posts: 21
Default Tillotson Carburetor

Is there any real way to fix a leaking warped Tillotson carburetor, other than buying a Zenith?
truesdaleg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-16-2018, 04:19 PM   #2
WHN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Connecticut Shoreline
Posts: 1,815
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

I’m going to open myself up for some negative comments, but!

Do yourself a favor. Get a new Zenith carburetor. Doing so will check off your list another potential performance problem with your car. You don’t want to keep visiting something over and over. Enjoy.
WHN is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 08-16-2018, 04:33 PM   #3
Herb Concord Ca
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Concord CA
Posts: 623
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

To fix a warped Tillotson carb body, you have 2 choices both work well.
A) put fine sandpaper like 220 on a flat surface or piece of glass and work the body in a figure 8 pattern.
B) using a hose clamp, clamp the 2 bodies together without a gasket and put in an oven at 300 degrees for and 1 or 1.5 hours, turn off oven and let carb cool down with oven door closed.
Herb Concord Ca is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-16-2018, 08:46 PM   #4
truesdaleg
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Allen,TX
Posts: 21
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Herb - It’s not the body that is warped. It’s the other part. I’ve tried all the methods, I’ve read about, but it still leaks, even with two gaskets. I’ll try the oven idea. ( Then, I will probably have to take WHN’s advice).
truesdaleg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-16-2018, 09:42 PM   #5
Ernie Vitucci
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Posts: 611
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

A new Zenith is most likely the best. A rebuilt one from a major supplier is a good second and lower cost option...A Model B Carburetor and intake manifold is another good option and will give you a tad more power as it allows more air and fuel into the engine...I have used a B for years and love them. Ernie in Arizona
Ernie Vitucci is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-16-2018, 11:00 PM   #6
Tom Endy
Senior Member
 
Tom Endy's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 3,122
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Before you throw that old Tillotson away salvage the brass float from it. It makes an excellent replacement for the cork or neoprene float in your gas tank attached to the fuel gauge mechanism as it will easily fit through the gauge opening in the tank.


Tom Endy
Tom Endy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-17-2018, 02:47 PM   #7
Redbird
Senior Member
 
Redbird's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Georgetown, TX
Posts: 535
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Quote:
Originally Posted by truesdaleg View Post
Is there any real way to fix a leaking warped Tillotson carburetor, other than buying a Zenith?
So where is the leak?
Redbird is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-17-2018, 03:46 PM   #8
Herb Concord Ca
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Concord CA
Posts: 623
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Like Redbird asked, just where is the carb leaking and just what is "the other part"?
Herb Concord Ca is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-17-2018, 05:53 PM   #9
truesdaleg
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Allen,TX
Posts: 21
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

It is leaking at the seam between the top and the body. I don’t really know, but I am assuming the top piece is the part that is warped. The top piece has protrusions on it, so you can’t sand it down flat on a glass plate, like you could the body.
truesdaleg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2018, 09:11 AM   #10
johnbuckley
Senior Member
 
johnbuckley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1,439
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

the fuel level shouldn't reach as high as the join between top and lower body.... it should stay approx 1/2 -5/8 inch below ... maybe check your float valve and its gaskets are OK, check the float and its hinge are OK , and check the level you've got got the float set at before you ditch it. use the search within this website for more tilly info
johnbuckley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2018, 09:21 AM   #11
JBill
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 702
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Try two (or more?) gaskets. You'll have to tweak the float setting. Other than this tendency to warp, they're really very good carburetors.
JBill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2018, 02:29 PM   #12
truesdaleg
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Allen,TX
Posts: 21
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

I’ve tried the two gaskets, but I haven’t checked the float level. I will check that. Thanks for the advice. I really enjoy playing with my A, and trying to figure thing out for myself.
Y
truesdaleg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2018, 11:19 PM   #13
Fordfan29
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 41
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

I lived with a Tillotson for 29 years and it gave alittle better mileage that the Zeniths in our club on mileage runs. It also warped. There is nothing like opening the shop and be greeted by the smell of gasoline fumes. I used a flat file and dressed the gasket surface of the top part of the carb more than a time or two. It took time but was generally effective...Â…...for a while.

A club member claimed to be able to mill the gasket surfaces so they would seal properly but I never saw proof. He also only occasionally drove locally and at city speeds. He never really heated the engine bay like a long tour on a hot day will do.

After finding a very good Zenith 2 at a swap meet and being tired of filing pot metal I changed the carbs and have never regretted it. Buy a very good Tillotson and expect it to warp eventually of buy a Zenith and move on.
Fordfan29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-19-2018, 02:35 PM   #14
truesdaleg
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Allen,TX
Posts: 21
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Fordfan29 - I thought that would be the best final solution.

Johnbuckley, in his response to my post, said the fuel level should not reach the seam between the top piece and the body. Did you try to adjust the fuel level when you were fighting the leaking problem?
truesdaleg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-19-2018, 11:30 PM   #15
Fordfan29
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 41
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

I checked float level and talked to the local experts for any advice to solve my problem. Every one of the experts had a story about a leaking carb but no good suggestions for a cure. I never tried the oven bake solution. Everything would be acceptable for a while after I did some filing but eventually I'd smell gas again.
Fordfan29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2018, 04:24 AM   #16
BILL WILLIAMSON
Senior Member
 
BILL WILLIAMSON's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: FRESNO, CA
Posts: 12,560
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Remember, they weren't made to last FOREVER??? They were made of "POT" metal, which is just the molten dregs of ALL kinds of metals, stirred into a "SOUP"---It was used to make decorative things, like Hood Ornaments, etc.---Kinda' like making SOUP, from all your LEFTOVERS & LOTS of water.
Bills' Kitchen
__________________
"THE ASSISTANT GURU OF STUFF"
BILL WILLIAMSON is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2018, 11:32 AM   #17
tinkirk
Senior Member
 
tinkirk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: SouthWest Michigan
Posts: 363
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Quote:
Originally Posted by truesdaleg View Post
Is there any real way to fix a leaking warped Tillotson carburetor, other than buying a Zenith?
i used two gaskets after sanding a flat service to make sure the base was flat, it worked and had no leaks

tinkirk
tinkirk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2018, 10:43 PM   #18
truesdaleg
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Allen,TX
Posts: 21
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Thanks everybody. I’m going to put the “Zenith” fix on my 29 Roadstet. I guess I can learn to get along without the smell of gasoline in my garage.
truesdaleg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2022, 09:11 PM   #19
Busmoss
Member
 
Busmoss's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Benton, KY
Posts: 32
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Recently Read this post. This information fixed my badly warped Tilly. But I will leave a hose clamp on the warped body until I can get some others to build. It looks silly but its going to hold me over. I sanded, filed, and scraped before trying the oven wish I could start over
Attached Images
File Type: jpeg F913587D-3A60-40EF-BCD7-533578BF9E40.jpeg (109.8 KB, 70 views)

Last edited by Busmoss; 01-16-2022 at 09:22 PM.
Busmoss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2022, 07:31 AM   #20
tinkirk
Senior Member
 
tinkirk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: SouthWest Michigan
Posts: 363
Default Re: Tillotson Carburetor

Quote:
Originally Posted by Busmoss View Post
Recently Read this post. This information fixed my badly warped Tilly. But I will leave a hose clamp on the warped body until I can get some others to build. It looks silly but its going to hold me over. I sanded, filed, and scraped before trying the oven wish I could start over
hey what ever works, what you got too loose
tinkirk is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:24 AM.